


Caving In

by Goldpeaches



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Quest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 16:32:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2739302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldpeaches/pseuds/Goldpeaches
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kíli has to take care of his brother after a bad day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Caving In

**Author's Note:**

> Unfortunately I lost the link, but the prompt was Fili or Kili giving his brother a bath after a bad day and this is what I came up with.

Kíli peers out of the window into the darkness again, hoping to finally see the light of Fíli’s lantern on the path. He isn’t exactly worried that Fíli hasn’t come home yet, it’s just boring without him. While their mother is away for a few days, it is Kíli’s duty as the youngest to stay home, take care of the house and the few chickens, pigs and milk Boo, the cowardly cow, instead of helping at the mine with Fíli. He can’t wait to move out of this house where everything is made for men and too big for him and into his own room, deep inside the Blue Mountains. 

“It’s the way you’re made,” his mother explained to him, when he told her about his sudden change of mind. He grew up in houses like this one and found the thought of living underground suffocating until he actually saw the cave that was going to be his home one day. He instantly felt that this was where he belonged. Underground. Safe. It also is a great relief that he seems to have some dwarfish instincts.

He likes to think that Fíli is working on his room right now, making sure that the walls are as smooth as they can possibly be and that only his attention to detail is keeping him so long.

He wanders around the house aimlessly. Twice he almost grabbed his coat to walk up the mountain to check on Fíli, but he always talks himself out of it. Everyone would think that he was too scared to be home alone and he can’t have that.

He pokes his head out of the door once again, but only finds the stray cat he calls Zirikrathâkh – claws, because she loves to use her claws on him all the time.

“Come on in, then”, he says, glad to have some company.

With Zirikrathâkh purring in his lap, he dozes off and only wakes with a start, when the front door slams shut. The cat uses the opportunity to dig her claws into his leg, before fleeing from his lap onto a cupboard and Kíli ducks his head, while he listens for a familiar sound. Times are tough and houses are broken into all the time, but a smile spreads over Kíli’s face. He could identify Fíli’s walk among thousands and even though his steps are heavier than usual, Kíli is sure.

He leaps off his chair and nips around the corner, just to see Fíli crash onto the sofa. He comes up from behind. If he stands on his tiptoes, he can just see over the back. 

“You are very late, Mister. You know I…” he begins, trying to imitate their mother’s tone, but stops mid-sentence. Something is wrong. He can’t really say, yet, but Fíli is lying on his stomach, with his head buried in his arms. His hair and clothes are covered in a thick layer of dust, making him look almost grey and ghostly. “Fíli?”

He scutters around the sofa and kneels down by Fíli’s head.

“Fí,” he tries again and gently pats his arm. “Please?”

Fíli lowers his arm reluctantly and Kíli gasps when he sees his brother’s face. It is covered in more dust and blood, but it is the emptiness in Fíli’s eyes that scares Kíli the most.

“What happened?” Kíli gently pulls Fíli’s legs off the sofa and starts to unlace his boots.

“There was an accident,” Fíli begins, his voice a barely audible whisper. “One of the tunnels collapsed.”

Kíli clasps his hands over his mouth in shock. A caved-in tunnel is the worst thing that could happen to miners, ever. Fíli grinds his teeth as he sits up.

“I stayed and helped until we found everyone, but…” He takes a deep breath and shakes his head at the unasked question. Kíli looks up at his brother equally speechless. He is at the awkward age where he feels like an adult most of the time until he realises that he has no clue how to handle problems like an adult. This is one of the times where he has no idea how to even approach the situation, let alone help in any way.

“I just want to get clean and go to bed,” Fíli adds after a while, making Kíli breathe a sigh of relief. A plan, something he can manage, that’s all he needed to spring into action. He pulls off Fíli’s boots and tosses them aside carelessly. 

“Wait here,” he says and drags in buckets of water to heat up and fill up the wooden bathtub in the kitchen. It takes him a while to accomplish his task, but when he is done, Fíli has gotten enough rest to get up from the sofa, limp into the kitchen and undress by himself. His clothes are ruined and end up in a pile on the floor. He briefly washes away the worst of the grime in a bucket, before climbing into the bathtub.

The way he just sits there, staring at the edge of the tub makes Kíli incredibly uneasy and fidgety. He needs to do something. Anything at all, so he picks up a soft sponge and pulls a small bench next to the bathtub to sit.

“Does it hurt anywhere?” he asks as he pushes Fíli forward to wash his back.

“Everywhere,” Fíli replies, but Kíli can feel the muscles in his back and shoulders relax under the warm water.

“Sorry,” Kíli says, “tell me if you want me to stop.”

Fíli nods and rests his chin on his knees that are just breaching the surface of the water. Kíli continues to wash his brother quietly. His arms are covered in bruises and his fingernails are broken and bloody and Kíli shudders at the thought of having to dig at rocks with his bare hands to rescue those who got buried by the falling stones.

There is one large cut on Fíli’s forehead, but now that the bleeding has stopped it doesn’t look too bad. Overall, Kíli thinks, Fíli has been incredibly lucky, and he can’t even imagine what he would have done if he had lost his big brother and his best friend at the same time.

He wipes the sponge over Fíli’s face a few times and then starts to open the braids in his hair without giving it much thought, even though it isn’t his place to touch them, really. Right now, he doesn’t care about the way things should be done, he just want Fíli to be okay again.

Usually it is the other way round. Usually Fíli is the one who has to take care of his little brother. He picks up a bar of soap and carefully washes the dust and dirt out of Fíli’s hair. He even feels a little proud for not letting Fíli down when he needs his brother for a change.

“That’s really nice,” Fíli sighs after a while and Kíli smiles to himself, glad that he can offer a little comfort. “Your hands are very soft. You should do this professionally. You’re probably better at this than mining.”

Kíli can hear the smirk in Fíli’s voice, his attempt to make things a little less tense, so instead of protesting he just hits him with the wet sponge.

“Hey, that’s what I get for saying nice things about you?” Fíli shakes his head disapprovingly, but then turns to look at Kíli earnestly. “But I mean it, promise me that you won’t go down into the mine, not even for a second before it is completely safe.”

Kíli nods his head slowly.

“Will you promise the same?” 

“I can’t.”

“For me?” Kíli runs his fingers through Fíli’s hair go get rid of the soap. He looks a lot better now that he is clean and has some colour back in his cheeks, but his eyes are still distant even when he looks at Kíli.

“Kí…” 

“Will you promise me then, that you will be extra careful?”

“I will,” Fíli says and even though he is completely wet, reaches out for his brother and pulls him into a painfully tight hug that lasts until their arms are numb, because neither of them wants to be the first to let go.


End file.
